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Dental spurs

daphnephoebe

daphnephoebe

Wise Old Thumper
So while at the vets they mentioned Daphne has a spur. She's had this since a baby (they noticed when she was being spayed), she's now a year old & its not changed a massive amount. She gets lots of meadow hay (thin & long strands), they also eat a lot of oatigrass & have readigrass available 24/7).

Is there any type of hay that is particularly better for dental bunnies than others?

Thanks :)
 
Hi
My bunnies have hay from a local farm which they love. The vet looked at their teeth not long ago and said how well they were managing to keep their teeth in good condition at the minute and their weight was good. It costs £1.20 a bag x
 
Any hay or grass will do the job - so pick whatever they will the eat most of as that is where you will get the most benefits. It varies so much anyway, depending on where it is from, time of year, etc. Rabbits can also be fickle and suddenly change their favourite type of hay. I also tend to choose the more fibrous forage over the softer stuff, so every bit counts towards wearing the teeth down. eg willow leaves on branches, bramble leaves, plantain.
 
daphnephoebe said:
So while at the vets they mentioned Daphne has a spur. She's had this since a baby (they noticed when she was being spayed), she's now a year old & its not changed a massive amount. She gets lots of meadow hay (thin & long strands), they also eat a lot of oatigrass & have readigrass available 24/7).

Is there any type of hay that is particularly better for dental bunnies than others?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

It's difficult to completely eradicate spurs, even with lots of hay and grass, but any hay and grass (and lots of it) will minimise the formation of spurs.

Will she have to go in for a GA to have it dealt with?
 
As Shimmer said, any type of hay/grass will help to wear down spurs so I would offer them anything that you know they will eat lots of - there's no point in offering something more stalky, for example, if they're not going to touch it. It's not just the type of hay eaten but also the action of the teeth grinding against each other that wears the teeth down so getting them chewing on any hay/other fibrous plants as much as possible is going to offer the most benefit in the long term.
 
MightyMax said:
It's difficult to completely eradicate spurs, even with lots of hay and grass, but any hay and grass (and lots of it) will minimise the formation of spurs.

Will she have to go in for a GA to have it dealt with?
Click to expand...

Its okay at the moment but need to do what I can to prevent it from getting too badly too quickly. If you know what I mean.
When she has her teeth done, she will need a GA. I'm the only one she'll let look in her mouth etc when conscious... I'd never seen her lunge as someone before the vet visit.

Thank you everyone else for your replies. They love willow so I'll definitely forage more of that for them more often. Is hawthorn also a good one for teeth?

Daphne is extremely fussy with her food - she'll eat willow, hawthorn & the odd rose leaf but otherwise she won't touch other forage. Phoebe is a lot better (which is guess explains why her teeth are so much better)
 
daphnephoebe said:
Its okay at the moment but need to do what I can to prevent it from getting too badly too quickly. If you know what I mean.
When she has her teeth done, she will need a GA. I'm the only one she'll let look in her mouth etc when conscious... I'd never seen her lunge as someone before the vet visit.

Thank you everyone else for your replies. They love willow so I'll definitely forage more of that for them more often. Is hawthorn also a good one for teeth?

Daphne is extremely fussy with her food - she'll eat willow, hawthorn & the odd rose leaf but otherwise she won't touch other forage. Phoebe is a lot better (which is guess explains why her teeth are so much better)
Click to expand...

Forage per se will not wear down a rabbit's teeth. Hawthorn and willow may have a little more abrasiveness than store bought greens, but it's the silica in grass and therefore hay, that actually will wear down their ever growing teeth :D
 
MightyMax said:
Forage per se will not wear down a rabbit's teeth. Hawthorn and willow may have a little more abrasiveness than store bought greens, but it's the silica in grass and therefore hay, that actually will wear down their ever growing teeth :D
Click to expand...

Never knew that, thanks :)
 
My Tilly pig was found to have a spur and I was really surprised as she eat absolutely huge amounts of hay!
 
*lily* said:
My Tilly pig was found to have a spur and I was really surprised as she eat absolutely huge amounts of hay!
Click to expand...

Sometimes no amount of grinding on the good stuff will bring teeth into line. Sometimes their alignment just doesn't allow the surfaces to grind efficiently. Sad but true x
 
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